Electronic ticketing is catching on at Delta. The carrier reports that in July, the percentage of electronic tickets issued by U.S. domestic stations rose four points to 75% - that is, where ticketless travel was available, three out of four passengers opted for it. Three stations, St. Thomas, San Juan and St. Croix, issued 100% electronic tickets. Hub leaders were Los Angeles, 88%, and Orlando, 87%.
ValuJet Inc. received consent from a majority of its 10-1/4% senior note holders to move forward with its merger with Airways Corp. ValuJet Chief Financial Officer Steve Nevin said the bondholder approval means "we can move forward to gain the final requisite shareholder and regulatory approvals for the merger, which will strengthen our position in the airline industry."
Kiwi is offering $5 fares in celebration of its fifth anniversary. Passengers who fly in August receive a $5 coupon good for one way of a flight purchased as a roundtrip. Tickets must be purchased by Sept. 5, and the coupons can be redeemed Sept. 8 through Oct. 22.
TWA launched a quick fall fare sale on tickets purchased no later than Aug. 8. The fares are good for travel Aug. 19-Dec. 16, and a 14-day advance purchase is required. Roundtrip fares are based on length of trip, such as $208 for flights under 500 miles, $268 for 1,000-1,499 miles and $358 for 2,500-2,999 miles.
World Airways has been awarded its largest-ever military contract - at least $74 million, for transporting military personnel to the Far East, Europe and the Middle East for a year, beginning in October. This year's contract, with the U.S. Air Force, provides for 35% more flying than last year's. World said it expects ad hoc awards during the year to add $15-$25 million. It operates MD-11 and DC-10-30 aircraft.
Emirates will launch twice-weekly service from Dubai to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on Oct. 28, using A310-300 aircraft. One of the flights will be routed through Nairobi, and the other will be nonstop.
Delta has invited selected customers to choose the seats for its new 737- 800s, to be delivered next year. Several seat types are on display at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, including one that was designed using suggestions from a customer survey in June. "This is their chance to fine- tune the seat before we go into production," said Gayle Bock. The seats were developed by Weber Aircraft.
Present Law In general - Excise taxes imposed on commercial air transportation of passengers (10% of fare) and cargo (6.25% of shipping charge) and on noncommercial aviation fuels (15 cents per gallon on aviation gasoline and 17.5 cents per gallon on jet fuel) are transferred to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to finance a portion of the cost of programs administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Airport and Airway Trust Fund excise taxes are scheduled to expire after Sept. 30, 1997.
Air Canada said yesterday it will increase its transborder service, adding flights to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Milwaukee from Toronto this fall. The airline will begin four daily Toronto-Pittsburgh nonstops Oct. 27, charging an introductory rate of $149 roundtrip for travel to Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa. It will serve Pittsburgh with Canadair Regional Jets. The carrier will launch service to Cleveland and add frequencies to Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix, using A321s to the southwestern points.
Reno Air will launch scheduled service between Las Vegas and Oklahoma City Sept. 16 and will increase Las Vegas-Reno flights to seven a day. The Las Vegas-Oklahoma City flights will start at $89 one way during off-peak hours. The introductory fares require a 14-day advance purchase and must be bought by Sept. 30, and travel must be completed by Dec. 22.
United's Meetings and Association Sales Department is offering more discounts to conference attendees who book at least 60 days in advance. The incentive increases the discount to 5% plus another 5% off the lowest fare, or 10% plus an additional 5% off the unrestricted coach fare of its Meeting Plus product.
Finnair and Norwegian carrier Braathens S.A.F.E. will begin six daily code- share flights Aug. 18 between Stockholm and Oslo. One flight will use a Finnair aircraft, and the other five will operate with Braathens jets. "This expansion of our second hub in Stockholm is important to our transatlantic passengers as it increases their travel options throughout Finland, the rest of Scandinavia and Europe," said Bo Long, Finnair general manager.
Air Transport Association said air cargo traffic increased 8.4% in June, with international cargo up 14.4% and domestic cargo 3.5%. Cargo growth has remained constant through this year and most of last year, said ATA President Carol Hallett. "This stability has given the industry an increased sense of security as passenger traffic figures grow at a slower rate."
Korean Air's 747 accident in Guam was the 12th total hull loss the airline has experienced in 30 years and its seventh accident this decade with damage to aircraft. The airline has lost three 747s, three 707s and two DC-10s to accidents.
LatinPass frequent flyer program is increasing its breadth, marketing coupons to businesses for employee rewards or customer incentives. The minimum LatinMiles purchase is $1,000, and companies can buy coupons in denominations of 500, 1,000 and 5,000 miles for deposit in any LatinPass member airline program.
Sabena traffic soared 23.7% in June and 19.3% in the first six months of 1997. The airline carried 624,815 passengers in June, up 34.1%. Freight ton kilometers, up 6% for the month, declined 9% in the six-month period.
John Sharp, Australia's Minister for Transport and Regional Development, said this week his country rebuffed U.S. interest in an open skies agreement, seeing too few benefits at this time. The current bilateral is a liberal one, and other issues complicate the picture. During a brief layover in Washington on his way to June's APEC conference in Victoria, Sharp told U.S. officials that Australia might be more receptive to open skies if the U.S. changed the Jones Act, which bars the use of foreign-made ships in American waters.
TAP Air Portugal applied jointly with Delta for authority to begin and amend Portugal-U.S. service under their existing code-share/blocked-space agreement. The carriers seek expedited action, by Aug. 12, to enable them to launch service Sept. 3. TAP requested initial exemption authority for Lisbon-New York-Miami/Los Angeles/Washington National/San Francisco code- share service with Delta.
Competing carriers are objecting to the American/British Airways request for in-camera review of numerous alliance-related documents, with TWA calling it an "insult to every attorney and consultant for other parties to this proceeding." Under the in-camera procedure, DOT reviews specific documents and decides whether to dismiss them from the proceeding or make them available for review by authorized parties under Rule 39, withholding them from the public docket. By US Airways' count, American/BA want to withhold 111 documents in their entirety.
DOT reissued certificates in the name of Fine Air Services Inc. d/b/a Fine Airlines d/b/a Fine Air. The change of name from Fine Airlines Inc. took effect July 31. (Docket OST-97-2704)
Southwest will reduce maintenance cost per aircraft 15% with its new 737- 700s due to more efficient cockpit systems and design input the airline gave Boeing. Liquid crystal displays in Southwest's -700s have a 20,000- hour life, compared with 3,000-6,000 hours currently. Southwest's ideas will help reduce engine-change time to two hours on the -700, compared with six hours on the 737-300.
KLM, which has experienced healthy traffic growth for several months, yesterday posted a 14% gain in passenger traffic and an 8% rise in capacity during July. The load factor increased 4.5 percentage points to 84.2% from 79.7%. During the last four months, KLM's traffic has risen 16% while capacity increased 8%. The regions of North America, Central and South America, and Africa experienced 22%, 20% and 18% surges in traffic, respectively. Cargo traffic rose 4% as capacity dropped 2%.
